Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau looks on from behind the bench during Friday's game against the Philadelphia Flyers at Honda Center. JEFF GROSS, GETTY IMAGES

ANAHEIM – Not only did his first day consist of running a practice session with a new team, but it was also filled with a news conference, several sit-down interviews and a bunch of informal handshakes and greetings.

By the time he exited Honda Center on Thursday, Bruce Boudreau was ready to find the nearest pillow.

"Last night when I left here at 6 o'clock, I went to bed," Boudreau said. "It's been a long two days. But you get up at 3 o'clock in the morning ... and then you start again."

As the new coach of the Ducks, Boudreau called the process of getting up to speed on them "as crash a course as you can get." He again used the word whirlwind when describing his head-spinning week from being the Washington Capitals coach Sunday to being out of a job to being the steward of another team.

Part of his first few hours with the Ducks has been about prioritizing.

"(You're) getting in there and it's not going in chronological order that you'd like," Boudreau said Friday before his first game, against Philadelphia. "I've got to do this, I've got to do that, I forgot to do this. I'll be glad when it gets back to a little bit of normalcy. And for the players, too, to get into that routine of what they'll be used to. Hopefully.

"It's probably a little bit of a change from what they're used to. Whether that's good or bad, we'll see."

Boudreau is in the process of getting to know each player. Of the meetings, he said, "You want to make sure you're attentive to everybody and treat everybody the same in that respect.

"One thing that I've been lucky with, being in the organization in Washington for the last seven years, is you get to know the players both coming up and seeing them as young kids and then developing.

"You get to know what makes them work and what their family situations are and everything else.

"I think it's important to know what goes on in their life. If they've got two sick kids at home and they look really tired, it's not that they're out all night. Maybe they're up all night because the kids are up all night. Little things like that help go a long way."

Ducks veteran Teemu Selanne said he can see that Boudreau is making small changes but "doesn't want to over coach right away."

"He has been very positive," Selanne said. "And you can see his body language and everything. He's really excited about this situation. That's great."

FOWLER UPBEAT

Cam Fowler was put into the Ducks lineup from day one at age 18 by former coach Randy Carlyle and delivered a 10-goal, 40-point season as a rookie.

Fowler also knows what Boudreau did for Washington defenseman Mike Green, who became an offensive dynamo from the blue line with consecutive seasons of 56, 73 and 76 points.

"He did some great things there in Washington," a smiling Fowler said of Green. "He's a really offensively gifted player. You could tell that Bruce wanted him to play that way. He definitely didn't put any reins on him. He just let him go.

"But I know that Bruce expects a solid defensive game too. That's what he's been preaching since he got here. That's what we need to tighten up as a group. So obviously that's first priority for me, making sure the puck stays out of my net."

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